MassDevelopment issued a $5,267,500 tax-exempt bond on behalf of Finicky Pet Food, a firm that processes fish for the pet food industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The bond will enable the company to expand the use of solar energy in its production process.

The company is using the bond, which MassDevelopment enhanced with two export guarantees, to acquire and install solar panels on the roof of its manufacturing facility on Blackmer Street. The solar panels will also be part of a canopy system on Finicky Pet Food’s parking lot and adjoining land. Finicky Pet Food will also use proceeds to refund a previous MassDevelopment bond, which the company used to buy and rehabilitate its manufacturing facility, and purchase land and equipment in 2006. Webster Bank purchased the bond.

“Finicky Pet Food, Inc. provides an integral connection between the South Coast Seafood Industry and the Pet Food Manufacturing Industry,” said MassDevelopment President/CEO Marty Jones. “This tax-exempt bond will help this Gateway City Company invest in renewable energy, helping it reduce overall electricity costs and devote more resources to delivering quality frozen seafood to the Pet Food Industry.”

Finicky Pet Food, Inc. sources fresh fish, frozen fish, and fish scrap from local fish cutting-houses for processing. The company provides frozen and ground fish to suppliers and manufacturers in all parts of the industry’s supply chain. Prior to Finicky Pet Food opening for business in New Bedford, similar companies charged the cutting houses to pick up their fish scrap. That fish is now reprocessed for future sale and is an important source of revenue to the New Bedford fish-processing industry.